Cervical collars for use in a hospital environment are well-known. U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,226 discloses a cervical collar which may be used in such an environment. The collar comprises front and rear halves which are secured together by mating strap fasteners. The collar halves are applied to the patient's neck region to immobilize the cervical portion of the patient's spine. In use, the collar halves are manually aligned and then fastened by applying the mating strap fasteners along the side or end portions of the collar halves. The front half of the collar is provided with a chin cavity and support portion and a rigid support member to prevent the patient's head from tilting forward and causing flexion of the cervical portion of the spine. The rear collar half is provided with a rigid support member to prevent the patient's head from tilting rearwardly and causing hyperextension of the cervical portion of the spine. The collar halves overlap at each side region of the patient's neck, below the level of the ear. The front collar half embraces the patient's jawbone only at the chin region. As a result, rotation or side-to-side motion of the patient's head is not entirely prevented and the cervical portion of the patient's spine is not completely immobilized.
In the emergency medical environment, a cervical collar should be capable of being assembled rapidly and reliably to completely immobilize the cervical portion of the victim's spine so that the victim can be transported from the accident site as quickly as possible and without danger of secondary injury. A cervical collar comprising collar halves as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,226 requires a certain dexterity in aligning the collar halves before the halves are fastened together. If the collar halves are not properly aligned when first applied to the victim's neck region, it may be necessary to lift the victim's head a number of times to enable the rear half of the collar to be shifted into alignment with the front half. Also, although a collar of this type may adequately serve to prevent flexion and hyperextension of the cervical portion of the victim's spine, the collar does not sufficiently embrace the victim's jawbone and skull so as to entirely eliminate rotation of side-to-side movement of the victim's head. It is therefore desireable to apply a separate strap across the victim's forehead as a further precautionary measure to prevent rotation or side-to-side movement of the head and more completely immobilize the cervical portion of the spine. The victim is typically placed on an evacuation board which is provided with such a strap. If the evacuation board strap has been damaged or lost, or otherwise not provided, the cervical collar alone cannot completely immobilize the cervical portion of the spine.
The problem solved by the present invention is that of providing a cervical collar of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,226 but which is especially suited for emergency medical use, that is, a cervical collar which can be rapidly and reliably assembled at the scene of an accident (on land or in water) without having to lift the victim's head repeatedly to ensure proper alignment of the collar halves and which is capable of embracing the victim's jawbone, skull and forehead to prevent rotation or side-to-side movement of the head and thereby more completely immobilize the cervical portion of the spine so that the victim can be transported from the accident site without danger of secondary injury.